PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A naval officer from the United Arab Emirates has been ordered to pay $1.2 million to a former domestic worker who accused him of imprisoning her and forcing her to work long hours for little pay.
However, Elizabeth Ballesteros’ attorney questioned whether her client would ever collect the money.
Col. Arif Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Al-Ali was found to be in default in August for failing to appear in court in a lawsuit filed by Ballesteros, who cared for Al-Ali’s family in East Greenwich when he was studying at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell ordered Al-Ali to pay Ballesteros for forcing her to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and for what he called outrageous and inhumane conduct, including withholding her passport and threatening her if she tried to leave.
The award included $10,000 per day for each of the 84 days that McConnell said Ballesteros was imprisoned and subject to emotional abuse.
Al-Ali was acquitted of related criminal charges during a bench trial before U.S. District Court Judge Mary Lisi, who said Ballesteros’ testimony didn’t ring true. But McConnell wrote that he accepted the allegations as true and called her a highly credible witness.
Al-Ali’s lawyer, Robert Clark Corrente, withdrew from the case in January, saying Al-Ali did not want to spend more money on the lawsuit. Since then, letters sent to Al-Ali’s listed address in the United Arab Emirates have been returned as undeliverable.
Corrente did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment on Thursday, but he said previously that Al-Ali has returned to the United Arab Emirates and doesn’t have any assets in Rhode Island.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 12/28/2012